Consumer Proposal Calculator Canada: Estimate Your Monthly Payment (2026)

Almost everybody who looks for a consumer proposal calculator is really asking one question: what would this cost me a month, and is it less than what I am paying now. The honest answer is that your trustee works it out from your income and your assets rather than from your debt, which is why two people who owe the same amount can get very different offers. The calculator below uses the same inputs a Licensed Insolvency Trustee starts with, including the 2026 surplus income thresholds published by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, so the number it gives you should be in the right neighbourhood.

A proposal is not always the right answer

In about a third of the files I see described to me, the person did not need to file anything at all. Before you commit to a five year legal arrangement, spend twenty minutes with Consolidated Credit Canada. They will tell you free of charge whether stopping the interest alone would clear your balances, which leaves a far lighter mark than a proposal does.

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Consumer proposal calculator

Four numbers, and the comparison updates as you type. Everything runs in your browser, nothing is submitted and no credit check happens.

$
Credit cards, lines of credit, loans, tax debt. Not your mortgage or car loan.

$
After tax, everyone in the household combined

Including you, your partner and any dependants

$
Equity a trustee could sell. Leave at zero if you are not sure.

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How the calculator works out your number

A consumer proposal is not a negotiation about your debt. It is a negotiation about what your creditors would get if you went bankrupt instead, plus enough on top to make saying yes worth their while. That means the calculation runs in this order.

  • Your surplus income. The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy sets a monthly income standard for each household size. Anything you earn above that line is surplus, and in a bankruptcy you hand over half of it. You only start paying once you are at least $200 a month above the threshold.
  • How long a bankruptcy would last. A first bankruptcy discharges automatically at nine months. If surplus income payments are required, it runs 21 months instead. That alone can more than double what creditors would collect.
  • What a trustee could sell. Anything above your provincial exemption limits is on the table in a bankruptcy. Home equity is the big one, and the limits vary wildly by province, from $50,000 protected in Saskatchewan to nothing at all in Prince Edward Island.
  • The premium on top. Creditors will not vote for a proposal that pays them the same as a bankruptcy, because a bankruptcy is simpler for them. The offer has to beat it, and the calculator assumes a modest premium over the bankruptcy figure.

That is why the calculator asks for your income and your household size rather than just your balances. Somebody earning $2,600 a month with $100,000 of debt often ends up offering creditors a few cents on the dollar, while somebody earning $4,500 with $20,000 of debt may find a proposal costs close to the full amount and is not worth filing at all.

The 2026 surplus income thresholds

These are the Superintendent’s Standards for 2026, published in Directive 11R2-2026. They are the single most important number in your file, and they went up about 1.9% on the 2025 figures.

People in the household Monthly income threshold for 2026
1 $2,716
2 $3,381
3 $4,157
4 $5,047
5 $5,724
6 $6,456
7 or more $7,188

Read it like this. If you live alone and your take home pay is $3,200 a month, you are $484 above the line. A bankruptcy would take half of that, so $242 a month, for 21 months. That is roughly $5,000 your creditors would collect, and a proposal has to beat it. If your pay were $2,800 instead, you would be only $84 over, no surplus payments would apply at all, and the whole calculation changes.

What the calculator cannot know

I want to be straight about the limits, because there are consumer proposal calculators out there that present an estimate as if it were a quote. Four things will move your real number.

  • Your actual expenses. The surplus income rules allow certain deductions, including child care, medical costs and support payments. If you have those, your surplus is lower than the raw arithmetic suggests and your proposal gets cheaper.
  • Your creditor mix. A file dominated by one large creditor is a different negotiation from one spread across eight. Whoever holds the majority of the dollar value effectively decides.
  • Whether your income is about to change. Trustees look forward, not just backward. A proposal built on a salary you are about to lose is a proposal that fails in year two.
  • Tax debt and student loans. CRA debt can be included, but CRA votes like any other creditor and has its own view of what is acceptable. Student loans under seven years old survive both a proposal and a bankruptcy.

There is also a practical floor. The calculator will not show a monthly payment below $100, because the trustee tariff has to be covered out of your payments and most firms will not take on a file below roughly that level.

Proposal, bankruptcy or a repayment plan

Here is the comparison I would actually make, and the credit consequences come from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada rather than from anyone selling you a service.

Consumer proposal Bankruptcy Debt management plan
What you repay A negotiated portion Surplus income and non exempt assets Everything you borrowed
How long Up to 60 months 9 months, or 21 with surplus income Usually about 60 months
Your house and car You keep them while secured loans are paid Equity above the exemption is at risk Untouched, secured debt is not included
Interest Stops on filing Stops on filing Cut or stopped by negotiation
Who can do it Licensed Insolvency Trustee only Licensed Insolvency Trustee only Nonprofit credit counsellor
Credit report 3 years after the final payment, or 6 from signing 6 years after discharge 2 years after the debts are paid

The last row is the one people underweight. A debt management plan disappears from your file two years after you finish. A proposal lingers three years past your last payment. If the plan is affordable, it is almost always the better outcome, and that is the comparison the calculator is really making for you.

If you want the longer read on either side, I have a full walkthrough of how a consumer proposal works, a straight comparison of consolidation against a proposal, and a list of the alternatives I would exhaust before filing anything.

Who actually files it

Only a Licensed Insolvency Trustee can file a consumer proposal. Not a debt settlement company, not a credit counsellor, not a law firm. If a company offers to arrange a proposal for you and charges a fee for it, what they are usually doing is taking your money and then walking you to a trustee who would have seen you free of charge. That is legal, and it is also a waste of several hundred dollars at exactly the moment you can least afford it.

Trustee fees in a proposal are set by federal tariff and come out of the payments you make, not on top of them. That is worth knowing because it means choosing between firms is about judgement and service rather than price. I have looked at a few of the larger ones in detail, including Hoyes Michalos and BDO Debt Solutions.

Get the number confirmed before you commit

The estimate above tells you the shape of the answer. A free assessment tells you whether you need a proposal at all, and if you do, what a realistic offer looks like on your file. It costs nothing, there is no credit check to get an opinion, and nothing is signed on the call.

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Frequently asked questions

How is a consumer proposal payment calculated in Canada?
It starts from what your creditors would receive if you went bankrupt instead, then adds enough on top to make accepting worthwhile. The bankruptcy figure is built from your surplus income, which is half of whatever you earn above the Superintendent’s Standard for your household size, multiplied by nine or 21 months, plus the value of any assets above your provincial exemption limits. Your debt total barely enters the calculation, which surprises almost everyone.
What is the average consumer proposal payment?
There is no meaningful average, because the number tracks income rather than debt. A single person on $2,600 a month with no assets might offer a few cents on the dollar. A couple earning $7,000 with $25,000 of debt might find a proposal costs close to the full balance. That is exactly why a calculator that only asks for your debt total cannot tell you anything useful.
What is the 2026 surplus income limit?
For 2026 the monthly thresholds are $2,716 for one person, $3,381 for two, $4,157 for three, $5,047 for four, $5,724 for five, $6,456 for six and $7,188 for seven or more. They come from Directive 11R2-2026 and rose about 1.9% on 2025. You pay half of anything above your threshold, and only once you are at least $200 over it.
How long does a consumer proposal last?
Up to 60 months, and that is a maximum rather than a default. You can pay it off early with a lump sum and many people do, often with help from family, because finishing early starts the credit recovery clock sooner. Miss three payments and the proposal is annulled, which puts you back where you started with the interest reinstated.
Can I keep my house and car in a consumer proposal?
Yes, as long as you keep paying the mortgage and the car loan. Secured debt is not part of the proposal at all. This is the single biggest practical difference from a bankruptcy, where equity above your provincial exemption can be sold. In provinces with low exemption limits, Manitoba at roughly $2,500 of home equity and PEI with none, that difference is the whole decision.
Does a consumer proposal stop wage garnishment and collection calls?
Yes, from the day it is filed. A stay of proceedings comes into effect immediately, which stops most garnishments, stops collection contact and stops interest accruing. That is a legal protection a voluntary repayment plan cannot give you, and for somebody already being garnished it is often the deciding factor.
Is a consumer proposal better than a debt management plan?
Not automatically. A proposal reduces what you owe but stays on your credit report three years after the final payment. A debt management plan repays everything with the interest stopped and clears two years after you finish. If a plan is affordable on your income, it is usually the better outcome. Run both through the calculator above and look at the monthly figures side by side before you assume the proposal wins.
Will this calculator check my credit or share my information?
No. Everything is worked out in your browser as you type. Nothing is sent to a server, no form is submitted and nothing is stored. The same applies to a first conversation with a counsellor or a trustee: neither pulls your credit file simply to give you an opinion.
What happens if my income goes up during a proposal?
Nothing. This is one of the real advantages of a proposal over a bankruptcy. The payment is fixed at the amount creditors accepted, so a raise, a new job or a bonus does not increase what you owe. In a bankruptcy, surplus income is recalculated as your income changes, so earning more mid way through costs you more.
Where can I get free help deciding?
Nonprofit credit counselling agencies assess your file at no cost and will tell you honestly if a proposal is the better route, even though they do not file them. Licensed Insolvency Trustees also give a free first consultation. Getting both opinions before you commit is normal, sensible and free. If you want to see every route at once, my debt relief calculator compares plans, loans, proposals and doing nothing on the same screen.

This page is general information, not financial or legal advice, and the figures it produces are estimates rather than an offer. Only a Licensed Insolvency Trustee can file a consumer proposal or tell you what your creditors will accept.